Automatic doffer



March-21, 1939. s o Frr AUTOMATIC DOFFER Filed Jan. 21, 1938 2Shegts-Sheet l INVENTOR Jamaal A. fluff BY W ATTORNEY March 21, 1939. s.A. MOFFITT AUTOMATIC DOFFER Filed Jan. 21, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR dbmue/ 14. Nafffi? ATTOR EY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEAUTOMATIC DOFFER Samuel A. Moflltt, Danvllle, Va., asslgnor to Robert L.Sjostrom, Lawrence, Mass.

Application January 21, 1938, Serial No. 186,111

13 Claims.

This invention which may be termed an automatic dofier relatesprincipally to means for conveying a succession of moving individualtextile articles from one position to another by means of an air blast.

It is also concerned with means for cutting a.

I continuously moving piece of cloth into smaller units and thereafterremoving these units from the cutting and conveying mechanism to a rackor other collecting device by means of a suitable blast of air ofsufficient force to bodily transport the units through the air.

My invention may also be utilized in connection with the transferring ofindividual textile units from a conveyor or slide to a collecting rackby means of an air blast suitably positioned.

A further object of my invention is to provide an intermittent air blastoperated by mechanism which controls the movement of the individualtextile articles. The air blast under control of this mechanism isconstructed to be put in operation at a time when the textile article isin proper relation thereto so that upon emission of the air, the articlewill be bodily conveyed to a second selected position.

Still another object of my invention is to provide mechanism forcontrolling an air blast suitable for bodily moving a textile article toa second selected position, which mechanism is under the control of thetextile article itself and independent of the cutting or conveyingmechanism.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will appear asthe description proceeds with the aid of the accompanying drawings inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a side view showing my mechanism with the air blast under thecontrol of the advancing textile article;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the machine shown in Fig. 1 with the textilearticles removed;

Fig. 3 is a detail of the mercury switch used in the controllingmechanism of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of another form of my invention in which the airblast may be controlled either by the conveyor or cutting mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a side view of the machine shown in Fig. 4 indicating therelation of the position of the textile article and the time ofoperation of the air blast for suitable transfer of the article; and

Fig. 6 is a. detail showing the construction of the automaticallyoperated valve used in connection with the machine shown in Figs. 4 and5.

Referring now to Fig. 1, a continuous strip or piece of textile material2, as for example, an ordinary piece of goods or a plurality of piecesof goods stitched together at their ends, are fed to my machine by anysuitable conveyor or feeding mechanism to be cut by the automaticallyoperated rotary cutters 4 and 6. These cuttings may operate continuouslyor intermittently to cut off pieces of material of any desired length.At any rate, the material 2 goes continuously through the cutters, andthe cutters may be of any type adapted to cut continuously movingmaterial. That is to say, the cutters may be any type of flying shear.

Upon leaving the cutter, the individual pieces pass in succession ontothe conveyor 8 which carries them forward to the point at which it isdesired to remove them from the machine. The conveyor 8 is positionedclose enough to the cutters and travels at suitable speed to pick up thecut pieces in succession and to maintain them in unwrinkled andnonoverlapping condition.

Positioned at the end of the conveyor is a framework which contains andsupports an air blast mechanism and the means for automaticallyoperating it under the influence of cut pieces of textile as they leavethe conveyor 8. This framework consistsof side supports 10 and I2 whichare suitably braced by transverse members l4, l6 and I8. Toward theupper rear of this frame is mounted a transversely extending pipe 20closed at its ends and having perforations 22 along its length on thefront side. This pipe 20 may be mounted on'the frame in any convenientmanner and, in the construction shown, is strapped to the rear of theframe by straps 24.

Connected to the rear of pipe 20 is a compressed air line in the form ofany suitable pipe 26 which leads to a solenoid controlled valve 28 towhich is connected a source of compressed air 30 having in the line areducing valve 32 and a pressure gauge 34. Current is brought to thesolenoid 36 which operates valve 28 through the wires 38 and 40, one ofwhich has in its circuit the mercury switch 42. Mercury switch 42 ispivotally mounted'at 44 on arm 46 which extends below the pivot. Thisarm is, in turn, rigidly connected with lever 48 having on its left enda striker plate or trigger 50 and on its right end a counterbalance 52which may be adjusted so that the switch will normally be open. A stop54 is provided to limit the clockwise rotation of lever 48.

On moving lever 48 counterclockwise, the mercury in switch 42 will flowto the left to close the circuit to solenoid 36 so that valve 28 will beopened whereby a blast of compressed air will flow through pipe 26 toperforated pipe 20 with the result that there will be a stronghorizontal air blast emitted through holes 22. The power of this blastmay be regulated by means of the reducing valve 32. When lever 48returns in clockwise direction to the position shown in Fig. l, theswitch 42 will open and valve 28 closed to stop the air blast.

Extending transversely of the side supports I0 and I2 is an inclinedplate 56 which is cut away at 58 to provide a space through which mayextend the striker plate or trigger 50. The upper portion of plate 56extends to the rear a sufiicient distance so that textile articles 51 orthe like depending downwardly under gravity as they leave conveyor 8will land thereon and slide down along the plate in flat condition untilthe striker plate is engaged by the leading edge of the article. Bysuitably positioning counterbalance 52, it takes but little force torotate lever 48 counterclockwise sufficiently to close switch 42. Thusas soon as the leading edge of the textile unit engages striker plate50, the air blast will be operated and this takes place while thetrailing end of the textile unit is still above the perforations 22 ofpipe 20.

The position of the air blast with relation to the piece of cloth issuch that the cloth will be transferred bodily through the air to landon collecting rack 60 as shown. Rack 60 may be adjusted upwardly ordownwardly or closer or farther away from the air blast as may benecessary to cause the pieces of cloth to land properly. Likewise, thevelocity of the blast may be varied to blow the pieces a suitabledistance.

Thus itmay be seen that a succession of moving articles 51 coming fromany type of machine, whether it be a rotary cutter or other deviceemitting a plurality of units may be successfully transported from theconveyor to a collecting rack without any manual assistance. Because theblast operates substantially instantly upon the closing of switch 42, myconstruction is able to handle succeshive pieces at very high speed. Itis merely necessary for the operator to periodically remove thecollected articles from rack 60.

Another form of my invention is shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. Here the airblast is operated by means under the control of the cutting or feedingmechanism and this arrangement may be preferred in certain instances.

Referring to Fig. 4, the side frames 62 and 64 carry rollers 66 and 68which, through suitable gearing not shown, rotate continuously to theleft to carry on the belts 69 fiat textile articles which havepreviously been operated upon. In the present showing, a rotary cutter'10 is provided which receives and automatically cuts continuouslymoving textiles brought to it by a conveyor or feeding means I2.

After the textile has been cut to a suitable length by cutter I0, itpasses to the conveyor belts 89 which travel at a suitable speed tobring the piece of cloth I4 to the position shown in Fig. 5 just as theair blast I6 is operated by the cam mechanism 18.

The construction and operation of the air blast in Figs. 4 and 5 is asfollows: A perforated pipe 80 closed at its ends is attached at itsextremities to the lower side of the supporting members 82. This pipehas rotatably positioned thereon a tube 84 forming a relatively snugflt, which tube has a slot 88 extending along its side for a distance asgreat as the extent of the perforations 88 in pipe 80. The slot 88 shownis not continuous for the reason that it is desired to add strength totube 84 by the connections 80 between sides of the slot. This isdesirable as a considerable expansive force is exerted against tube 84when the air blast is cut off.

Attached to the end of tube 84 is a collar 82 having an arm 94 extendingtherefrom. It is apparent that if arm 94 is moved one way or the other,tube 84 will be rotated with respect to pipe 80 so that the perforations88 will be alternately covered or uncovered. To accomplish thisoscillating movement, arm 94 is connected by link 96. having a turnbuckle adjustment therein to lever 98 pivoted at I00. The remote end oflever 98 carries a cam follower I02 which rides on cam I04. a

Thus it can be seen that as cutter I0 rotates carrying with it cam I04,lever 98 will be oscillated to cause corresponding oscillations in tube84, thus alternately opening and closing perforations 88. I

As stated before, the timing is so arranged that as the textile articleI4 reaches the position shown in Fig. 5, the position of cam I04 will besuch that the perforations 88 will be uncovered permitting compressedair, which is fed to pipe 80 by any suitable means to be emitted againstcloth I4, thereby blowing it bodily to rack I06.

By preliminary testing, it is possible to determine the exact locationof rack I06 to receive the particular articles that may be coming fromthe machine at any given time. The pieces of cloth, strange as it mayseem, do not double up or. become wrinkled or otherwise distorted asthey are blown through the air, but on the contrary are caused to landon the rack in smooth and orderly fashion with results fully as good ascould be accomplished by manually transporting the pieces from themachine to the rack. This is probably due to the fact that-the air blastspreads upwardly and downwardly after initial impact with the article.

While I have shown my collecting mechanism in use with rotary cuttersdesigned to sever a continuously moving strip, I wish it to bedistinctly understood that this device, may be used in conjunction withany machine from which is coming a continuous supply of individualtextile units or other flexible material. Where the units are coming atirregular intervals, the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 would bepreferred, as in this form the air blast is automatically operated bythe advancing cloth itself. If, however, articles are coming from themachine, at a uniform rate or at a rate that is timed with the operationof the machine, then the form shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 might be thepreferred construction. However, this is a matter of choice.

While I have shown preferred forms and constructions of my invention, Iwish it to be distinctly understood that I do not intend to be limitedthereby but only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An automatic dofler comprising a conveyor, an air blast mechanismpositioned in relation to said conveyor whereby a textile unit may bebrought by said conveyor to a position adjacent said mechanism with partof the area of said unit below and part above, and means forautomatically operating said air blast to bodily drive said unit to aselected position.

2. An automatic doifer comprising a conveyor adapted to transporttextile units, a transversely extending air blast mechanism locatedadjacent the path of travel of said unit, means for advancing said unitto a position adjacent said mechanism at which a greater area of saidunit is below than above said mechanism and means for automaticallycausing said air blast to operate when said unit has reached saidposition, whereby said unit may be bodily moved to a selected position.

3. Means for bodily transporting an individual textile unit from oneposition to another, comprising an air blast mechanism adapted toproduce a blast of air substantially the width of said unit and in thelongitudinal direction of intended transfer of said unit, means formoving said unit to an acutely inclined position in which part of saidunit is above and part is below said mechanism and automatic means foroperating said air blast mechanism to blow said unit to a selectedposition. l

4. Means for transferring and simultaneously inverting a textile unitcomprising a conveyor for transporting said unit, a transverselyextending air blast mechanism, means including said conveyor forbringing said unit to an acutely inclined position adjacent saidmechanism and means for operating said air blast after a majority ofsaid unit area has passed below said mechanism whereby said unit ismoved bodily and abruptly from its path and inverted during its travelto a selected position.

5. A machine for subdividing a length of textile material and thereaftercollecting'the resulting pieces, comprising feeding means for continuousfee ng of material to a cutter, a cutter adapted to out said materialwhile in,motion in pieces of selected lengths, means for conveying saidpieces successively to an inclined position adjacent an air blast, saidair blast automatically operated while each said piece is adjacentthereto t8 blow said piece bodily through the air to a selectedcollecting position.

6. Means for transporting a textile article from one position toanother, comprising means for feeding said article in a genrallydownward direction, an air blast mechanism adjacent the path of saidarticle of sufficient power to bodily move said article a substantialdistance in a direction generally normal to the surface of said articleat the time of operation of said blast, and automatic means foroperating said air blast as said article passes in downward directionthereby.

7. Means for transporting a textile article from one position toanother, comprising means for feeding said article in a generallydownward direction, an air blast mechanism adjacent the path of saidarticle of suflicient power to bodily move said article a substantialdistance in a direction generally normal to the surface of said articleat the time of operation of said blast, and automatic means foroperating said air blast as said article passes in downward directionthereby, said automatic meansset in operation by engagement of saidarticle with a trigger.

8. Means for transporting a textile article from one position toanother, comprising means for feeding said article in a generallydownward direction, an air blast mechanism adjacent the path of saidarticle of sufficient power to bodily move said article a substantialdistance in a direction generally normal to the surface of said articleat the time of operation of said blast, and automatic means foroperating said air blast as said article passes in downward directionthereby, said automatic means set in operation by means timed with saidfeeding means.

9. Means for transporting a succession of textile units from a conveyorto a rack, comprising an air blast mechanism positioned below and to therear of the path of said conveyor and extending transversely thereof,said mechanism comprising tubing connected with a compressed air sourceand having air emission ports adjacent the path of travel of saidconveyor and directed substantially normal to the plane of said path,said ports positioned to produce a blast of air wide enough to exertsubstantially uniform pressures along transverse areas of said unit.

10. A method of dofiing a textile unit comprising the steps oftransporting said unit longi tudinally and then downwardly at a steepangle, directing at said unit a strong transverse blast of airsubstantially the width of said unit in substantially the direction oforiginal longitudinal movement of said unit, moving said unit to aselected position while supported by the air blast only and finallypositioning a support at said selected position to engage part of saidunit whereby said unit will be deposited in inverted position.

11. The method of subdividing a length of textile material andthereafter collecting the resulting pieces comprising the step offeeding said material continuously to a cutter, cutting said material inpieces of selected lengths without stopping its forward movementconveying said pieces successively to a point adjacent an air blast, andoperating said air blast periodically to bodily transport said piecessuccessively through the air to a selected collecting position.

12. A method of dofl'ing a succession of textile units comprising thesteps of conveying said units successively to a point adjacent an airblast, operating said air blast periodically to bodily transport saidpieces successively through the air in a direction widely divergent fromthe previous path of travel .and finally collecting said units at aselected position,

13. A method of transporting a succession of textile articlescomprisingthe steps of directing at each article a blast of airsubstantially the width of said articles along a transverse area at atime when said article is in a predetermined inclined positionsusbtantially normal tothe plane of said air blast and when substantialareas of the article are both above and below said. transverse area,continuing the air blast a sfiflicient time to allow said air to spreadupwardly and downwardly from said transverse area whereby pressure maybe exerted against the entire area of said article to cause it to bemoved bodily in a direction generally the same as said air blast andthereafter permitting said articles to collect one on the other at aselected position.

SAMUEL A. MOFFIT'I'.

